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Instagram opens to NZ advertisers

In good news for local brand marketers, Facebook-owned video sharing app Instagram has just opened its platform to advertisers in New Zealand.

Until now, advertising has only been open to a select set of brand advertisers in eight countries (including Australia). Advertising is now open in 30 countries, and will be available globally from September 30.

Video ads can now be longer too, at up to 30 seconds where ads had been limited to 15 seconds. Advertisers can also use landscape photo and video, not just square sizes. And ads can include a call-to-action button, among them “Shop Now”, “Install Now”, “Sign Up” and “Learn More”. Finally, Instagram has also introduced a new “Marquee” premium ad format that it says will be useful for new product launches or particular events.

Brands already advertising on Facebook shouldn’t need a second invitation to take a close look at Instagram.

However, as local users are not yet accustomed to seeing ads in their feeds, you’ll want to make sure that your ads earn the right sort of attention by making them useful and entertaining. You’ll also want to target people likely to have a favourable impression of your brand. And targeting would appear to be one of Instagram’s strengths, making use of Facebook

Advertisers won’t just be limited to age, gender and location targeting, as has previously been the case on Instagram. They’ll also be able to select their audience based on the Facebook profile details of Instagram’s users.

Jeremy is a Partner and Senior Consultant at SureFire. Jeremy has been working in search since 1996, when he joined the Australian search engine, LookSmart. After relocating to San Francisco, he was instrumental in development of the company’s paid search ad platform. At analytics company Coremetrics (now owned by IBM) he established an in-house search agency managing campaigns for Coremetrics clients such as Macy’s, Bass Pro and Lands End. At Acxiom he managed members of the pioneering SEO firm Marketleap and worked with clients such as Capital One, American General Finance and Kaiser Health. Joining SureFire in 2009, he develops search strategies for SureFire clients and helps them make sense of their website data.